That ‘Fun’ Side Project That’s Now a Total Nightmare?

Had a client come to me in a panic a while back. He’d built a small inventory management plugin for his WooCommerce store. A classic passion project. It was supposed to be a simple tool to sync stock with a third-party warehouse API. For a while, it worked. But then it didn’t. Orders were getting dropped, stock wasn’t updating, and the whole thing was a black box. He was losing money and sleep.

He’d poured hours into it, and what started as a fun little side project to save him some hassle was now a full-blown operational crisis. The passion was long gone. Replaced by pure frustration. This is the classic lifecycle for so many dev projects, and it’s a fast track to burnout. It also reminded me of a great post I read over at carlalexander.ca about the real cost of following your passion.

The “Just Get it Working” Trap

When I looked at his code, I saw the problem immediately. It was one massive PHP file. Thousands of lines of procedural code, global variables, and cURL requests sprinkled everywhere. My first thought was, “Man, I’ve been here before.” Early in my career, I built a freebie plugin just like this. I just wanted to get it working. Quick and dirty. I told myself I’d refactor it later when I had time. Total lie.

Here’s the kicker: “later” never comes. The moment that plugin gets real users, you’re no longer building features—you’re fighting fires. For the client, fixing a simple bug in his API connection meant tracing a variable through hundreds of lines of spaghetti code. A ten-minute fix becomes a two-hour nightmare. That’s how passion dies. You start dreading opening the codebase. This isn’t sustainable plugin development; it’s a trap.

<?php
/**
 * Plugin Name: Sustainable Plugin Structure
 * Description: A better way to start a passion project.
 * Version: 1.0
 * Author: Ahmad Wael
 */

// Exit if accessed directly.
if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
    exit;
}

/**
 * The core plugin class.
 */
final class Sensible_Plugin {

    private static $instance;

    /**
     * Main Instance.
     */
    public static function instance() {
        if ( is_null( self::$instance ) ) {
            self::$instance = new self();
        }
        return self::$instance;
    }

    /**
     * Constructor.
     */
    private function __construct() {
        $this->setup_hooks();
    }

    /**
     * Setup action and filter hooks.
     */
    private function setup_hooks() {
        // All your actions and filters go here.
        // add_action( 'woocommerce_init', [ $this, 'init_inventory_sync' ] );
        // It's clean. It's manageable. It won't make you cry later.
    }

    public function init_inventory_sync() {
        // Your actual logic would live in other included class files.
        // require_once plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) . 'includes/class-inventory-api.php';
    }
}

// Kick it all off.
Sensible_Plugin::instance();

So, What’s the Point?

Treat every project like it’s going to be successful. Even the small ones. You don’t need a full-blown enterprise framework for a simple plugin, but you do need structure. My “vulnerability” back then was thinking that structure was a waste of time for a “small” project. Wrong. It’s the single most important thing to ensure your project doesn’t become a source of pain.

• Start with a class: Wrap your plugin logic in a main class. A singleton pattern is a decent, simple start.
• Separate your concerns: Don’t mix your API connection logic with your admin notice logic. Create separate files or classes for distinct functionalities. An ‘includes’ folder is your best friend.
• Think about the future: What happens if you need to add a feature? A little bit of planning saves a mountain of technical debt.

Look, this stuff gets complicated fast. If you’re tired of debugging someone else’s mess—or your own—and just want your site to work, drop my team a line. We’ve probably seen it before.

The goal isn’t to kill the passion with boring process. It’s to protect it. Good structure is what lets you keep enjoying the work, long after the initial excitement fades.